Cruisin' the Danube!: Bratislava

Wednesday Oct 26

Didn’t get close enough to this church previously: St Francis of Assisi church is very close to our port. It’s also known as the Kaiser Jubilee church. Pretty, even through the bus window.

Today, an hour-ish drive to Bratislava, Slovakia. I’m pretty sure this would have been a better experience in yesterday’s weather.

This is St. Martin’s Cathedral, significant because this is where the Coronations happen, including that of Empress Maria Theresa.

This is a castle that Empress Maria Theresa built for one of her daughters and her husband to live in (nice). Not very fancy but they say it’s quite ornate inside, similar to the Schoenbrunn Palace (where we couldn’t take pics inside).

Bratislava was part of the Hapsburg empire. The city lost importance when Empress Maria Theresa died.

The palace burned in 1811 and remained in ruins until it was rebuilt in 1956. This is one of the original medieval windows. I’m obviously not an architect but I feel like they could have done a better job of incorporating that into the facade.

Apparently the view from high on Castle Hill is spectacular when there isn’t thick fog….

Cute historic section of town. Our guide shared some fun stories.

Reportedly, Mozart performed his very first public concert here at age 6, marked by this plaque.

The Pressburg Bajgel is a signature pastry in Bratislava. A heavier dough filled with either poppy seeds or almond. We did try them but they didn’t compare to the pastries on board 🥐

Pamela is going to have ALL the luck on this trip. So far she has rubbed the statue’s belly in Budapest, and today she touched the finger of this Hans Christian Andersen statue in Bratislava for luck. The famous author was not born here but stopped here on a break from a steamer voyage and wrote favorably about the area -- so they built a statue of him about it.

The back of the statue depicts his fairy tale about The Emperor’s New Clothes.

THEN we saw another installation that has no historical significance; they just thought it would make the city more fun. This guy apparently looks up women’s dresses as they pass by. When a car ran over him and almost ruined the piece, they added the “Man at Work” sign.

Legend has it that rubbing his hat/head brings good luck as well…so here’s Pamela!

It is cracking me up that we’re seeing so many Starbucks here. I’m surprised that they allow a chain in cities that are so famous for coffee houses (according to Howard Schultz’s own comments, the inspiration for the Starbucks we know today). There were TWO in this little town in Slovakia! We’ve been visiting local cafes but we could not resist buying a Starbucks Bratislava mug here!

Another local legend: a boy was in the bathroom when he heard the King was coming so he rushed to the window. He waited there so long that he turned to stone. He waits there still because the King took another route.

Here is the route the King took. It’s marked in the street by these gold crowns.

They made a pretty big deal about Michael’s Gate. A Tower attached to part of the original city wall that’s been under renovation for over a year. Just recently they unveiled the spire, featuring the Archangel Michael slaying a dragon. The misty day is not helping the visibility.

The Black Death column is to honor about 2/3 of the population of the city that died in a plague. Our guide suggested a second column for COVID.

Here is the Opera House.

Austria and Slovakia are very progressive when it comes to conservation and sustainability. They’ve had electric trams since the 1960’s and there are many wind turbines dotting the countryside. Here’s a shot Pamela took on a prettier day.